Over the past weeks, I could update the files with chords for some more songs (Dhevanae Naan Umadhandayil, Aradhanai Nayagan Neerae, Ellaavatrilum Neer Maelaanavar, Oruvarum Saera Koodaatha Oliyil). I have been thinking about putting together some basic information regarding the influence of technology on music. In this regard I am including a link to a file here which gives a quick explanation of the various technical terms commonly involved with technologies utilized in music. In this regard, the videos added in this post illustrate couple of useful technologies that can possibly be utilized in churches or special worship/evangelistic programs. This time, I am adding videos which are just demonstrating the usefulness of looping and MIDI instrumentation in worship music. So I have not explained the chords in these videos.
Looping techniques in music involves repeating an audio phrase of music involving a sequence of chords/notes/patterns or combinations of all these continuously. Using looped phrase as an accompaniment, one can sing/play a song over the looped phrase. The overall effect of the resulting music sounds like a complete band playing though all these can be done by a single person. Gadgets capable of looping musical phrases are known as loop stations or loopers. Some of these loopers have facilities to play multiple phrases together or one after another continuously. Using such loopers, we can set the chorus of a song in a phrase and the stanza of the song in another phrase and play them interchangeably as accompaniments while singing/playing the song over them. The difference between this technique and auto-accompaniment styles that are available in lower end keyboards is that we get to determine the combination of instruments and patterns and musical pieces that are used in the accompaniment rather than using a factory pre-determined or preset accompaniment style. Also, this technique is quite helpful for guitarists as the looping accompaniment functions can be created and controlled with foot-pedals within minutes in live programs when additional accompaniment musicians/instruements are unavailable.
Looping Example: Blessed be Your Name song video
In the above video of Blessed be Your Name, I have attempted to present how looping can be utilized for certain worhsip songs.
The song itself is a beautiful compostion by Matt Redman where we can play effectively the entire song using four simple chords. I am playing it in the key of B and I have used just a sequence of 4 chords (B, F#, G#m,and E each played for a measure of four counts and the sequence repeated again and again) for the entire song. Here are the chord diagrams:
In my attempt here, I have used a Boss RC-30 loop station to repeat this sequence of 4 chords. I first played just these four chords (each one measure) in an acoustic guitar with a simple preset drum pattern (Boss RC-30) and saved it in Boss RC-30 loop station. Then in this video, over this repeating loop started using the Boss RC-30 pedal, I am just filling in the same chords with electric guitar that aslo simoltaneously triggers a Roland SH-201 synthesizer strings patch through MIDI link with a Roland GR-30 guitar synthesizer and a GK-3 pick up. For the guitar, I am using a Zoom G9.2tt multi effects processor patch involving chorus and delay.
MIDI Instrumentation - Layering sounds:
In my next video (Anbin Mugathai), I have tried to illustrate the utility of guitar synthesizer and MIDI linking in simoltaneously playing different layered instruments with a guitar.
The chords for this song is available in Tamil Christian songs pdf file.
Guitar synthesizers simply provide a means for guitarists to get a variety of sound possibilities that only keyboard players had access to before the 1980s. Guitar synthesizers need a special guitar pick-up known as hex pick-up to be fixed on guitars. A hex pick-up consists of six individual pick-ups each one sending electrical signals corresponding to each of the six strings of a guitar to be received separately by a guitar synthesizer. These 6 signals are then processed individually by a synthesizer and output as the chosen sound/patch of the synthesizer sound bank/patch bank. Thus a guitar can now be used to play a saxophone patch or even a drum sound available in the synthesizer. If the synthesizer has midi ports, we can connect to any other midi compatible device and play that device by playing the guitar.
In this video, I have connected a Roland GR-30 guitar synthesizer to the electric guitar through a hex pick-up. I have also connected the GR-30 to a Roland SH-201 keyboard through MIDI ports. This facilitates trigering the Roland Gr-30 sounds and SH-201 keyboard sounds simoltaneously while playing just the guitar. On the other hand, the direct electric guitar sound from regular pick-ups is connected to a Zoom G9.2tt guitar multi-effects processor which is facilitating a delay and chorus sound effect to the electric guitar sound. Thus, while just playing the guitar, I can have at the least two more simoltaneous layered sounds from Roland GR-30 guitar synthesizer and the Roland SH-201 keyboard sound. Each instrument sound volumes can be individually controlled according to need. Such a set up is often referred to as layering of sounds. Using this, I have played the prelude/interlude using the flute tone available in Roland GR-30 and a mild layered strings sound from SH-201. On the other hand, while singing, I am playing chords with guitar sound and a mild layered SH-201 strings patch. The drum sound is a preset pattern available at Boss RC-30 loop station pedal.
It is very important to note here that playing multiple instruments simoltaneously using guitar midi connections need additional practice to avoid any trigering of undesirable notes which are easily possible due toc secondary harmonics, a characteristic issue of stringed instruments.
Looping techniques in music involves repeating an audio phrase of music involving a sequence of chords/notes/patterns or combinations of all these continuously. Using looped phrase as an accompaniment, one can sing/play a song over the looped phrase. The overall effect of the resulting music sounds like a complete band playing though all these can be done by a single person. Gadgets capable of looping musical phrases are known as loop stations or loopers. Some of these loopers have facilities to play multiple phrases together or one after another continuously. Using such loopers, we can set the chorus of a song in a phrase and the stanza of the song in another phrase and play them interchangeably as accompaniments while singing/playing the song over them. The difference between this technique and auto-accompaniment styles that are available in lower end keyboards is that we get to determine the combination of instruments and patterns and musical pieces that are used in the accompaniment rather than using a factory pre-determined or preset accompaniment style. Also, this technique is quite helpful for guitarists as the looping accompaniment functions can be created and controlled with foot-pedals within minutes in live programs when additional accompaniment musicians/instruements are unavailable.
Looping Example: Blessed be Your Name song video
In the above video of Blessed be Your Name, I have attempted to present how looping can be utilized for certain worhsip songs.
The song itself is a beautiful compostion by Matt Redman where we can play effectively the entire song using four simple chords. I am playing it in the key of B and I have used just a sequence of 4 chords (B, F#, G#m,and E each played for a measure of four counts and the sequence repeated again and again) for the entire song. Here are the chord diagrams:
In my attempt here, I have used a Boss RC-30 loop station to repeat this sequence of 4 chords. I first played just these four chords (each one measure) in an acoustic guitar with a simple preset drum pattern (Boss RC-30) and saved it in Boss RC-30 loop station. Then in this video, over this repeating loop started using the Boss RC-30 pedal, I am just filling in the same chords with electric guitar that aslo simoltaneously triggers a Roland SH-201 synthesizer strings patch through MIDI link with a Roland GR-30 guitar synthesizer and a GK-3 pick up. For the guitar, I am using a Zoom G9.2tt multi effects processor patch involving chorus and delay.
MIDI Instrumentation - Layering sounds:
In my next video (Anbin Mugathai), I have tried to illustrate the utility of guitar synthesizer and MIDI linking in simoltaneously playing different layered instruments with a guitar.
The chords for this song is available in Tamil Christian songs pdf file.
Guitar synthesizers simply provide a means for guitarists to get a variety of sound possibilities that only keyboard players had access to before the 1980s. Guitar synthesizers need a special guitar pick-up known as hex pick-up to be fixed on guitars. A hex pick-up consists of six individual pick-ups each one sending electrical signals corresponding to each of the six strings of a guitar to be received separately by a guitar synthesizer. These 6 signals are then processed individually by a synthesizer and output as the chosen sound/patch of the synthesizer sound bank/patch bank. Thus a guitar can now be used to play a saxophone patch or even a drum sound available in the synthesizer. If the synthesizer has midi ports, we can connect to any other midi compatible device and play that device by playing the guitar.
In this video, I have connected a Roland GR-30 guitar synthesizer to the electric guitar through a hex pick-up. I have also connected the GR-30 to a Roland SH-201 keyboard through MIDI ports. This facilitates trigering the Roland Gr-30 sounds and SH-201 keyboard sounds simoltaneously while playing just the guitar. On the other hand, the direct electric guitar sound from regular pick-ups is connected to a Zoom G9.2tt guitar multi-effects processor which is facilitating a delay and chorus sound effect to the electric guitar sound. Thus, while just playing the guitar, I can have at the least two more simoltaneous layered sounds from Roland GR-30 guitar synthesizer and the Roland SH-201 keyboard sound. Each instrument sound volumes can be individually controlled according to need. Such a set up is often referred to as layering of sounds. Using this, I have played the prelude/interlude using the flute tone available in Roland GR-30 and a mild layered strings sound from SH-201. On the other hand, while singing, I am playing chords with guitar sound and a mild layered SH-201 strings patch. The drum sound is a preset pattern available at Boss RC-30 loop station pedal.
It is very important to note here that playing multiple instruments simoltaneously using guitar midi connections need additional practice to avoid any trigering of undesirable notes which are easily possible due toc secondary harmonics, a characteristic issue of stringed instruments.
